Mountains and memory / Robert L. McGrath.

Format:

Book

Author/Creator:

McGrath, Robert L., 1935-

Language:

English

Subjects (All):

Mountains in art.

Geology in art.

Anthropomorphism in art.

National monuments.

Monuments in art.

Nature (Aesthetics).

Physical Description:

x, 167 pages : illustrations ; 24 cm

Edition:

First edition.

Place of Publication:

Chicago : Center for American Places at Columbia College : Distributed by the University of Chicago Press, 2012.

Summary:

"From Egypt's Abu Simbel to South Dakota's Mount Rushmore to Tan Swie Hian's Earth Art Museum in China's Quingdao National Forest, mountains have long been shaped to resemble human personages, including pharaohs, presidents, and painters. Mountains and Memory explores this practice and traces the history of anthropomorphism-- the attribution of human qualities to non-human nature-- as expressed in the form of carvings on mountainous rock formations. Anthropomorphism can be understood as either perceptual, wherein natural forms are perceived as bearing human likeness, as is the case with New Hampshire's Old Man of the Mountain, or conceptual, wherein mountains are shaped sculpturally into human form, exemplified by Mount Rushmore. In both cases, the author argues, memory is enlisted to impose meaning on otherwise inchoate rock formations. In addition to exploring the theme through examples of actual mountains, the author also considers paintings and prints that impose human forms onto mountains and discusses projects that are still in development. In its range and attention, Mountains and Memory offers a unique look at mountains as the subject of both art and collective experience."--Publisher's description.

Contents:

Introduction

Mountain-As-Man

A City Upon the Hill

The Great Stone Face : Sermons in Stone

The Mountain of the Holy Cross : The Kingdom of God in America and the Rocky Road to Redemption

The Ames Monument and Beyond : On the Fast Track from the White Mountains to the Black Hills

Woman-as-Mountain

Men to Match the Mountains

From Stone Mountain to Mount Rushmore

Holiness In High Places.

Notes:

Includes bibliographical references.

ISBN:

1935195271

9781935195276

OCLC:

760972843

Publisher Number:

99958192844